I am continually searching for interesting flowers to paint. This is a big, beautiful bloom at the Botanical Center in Des Moines. These finger-like petals sprout from the center of the plant on a large stalk. Tropical plants always have bold colors, and their leaves have fun details to paint. I painted the flower shape much […] more »
My intention for this painting was to use complementary colors to make this piece sing! The chairs were painted wet-in-wet, dropping the pigments into the the damp areas of the paper. I love the way the pigments have mingled and flowed into each other. This is the main attribute of watercolors, and I love to […] more »
This particular piece was not one I breezed through effortlessly. One of the problems was limiting colors. I have a tendency to go hog wild with colors! Every element surrounding the chairs works toward harmonizing the shapes and patterns. It gets complicated if there are too many shapes and if it gets too crowded. I always […] more »
This piece is a reinvention of one of my favorite subjects: chairs. A challenge with this composition was adding non-related elements, as well as harmonizing the colors. It all began with an elderly blue jay, who flew to our patio and just sat and sat. No movement. He perched on the water bowl for a […] more »
This is a continuation of an abstract collage design I completed for an upcoming competition. At the start, I chose and cut various shapes of papers and played with different configurations until the design pleased me. What usually happens with the design is an evolving of shapes, patterns and textures. Early on, I decided that […] more »
I designed this after my sister mentioned how much she loved my barn artwork and that I should do one of the Mail Pouch Tobacco barns. We have many memories of our family summer vacations, seeing the barns with this advertising, and viewing the large tobacco leaves drying inside these barns — especially on our drives through West […] more »
In the back of my mind, I have always wanted to do another bicycle design in collage. When I received an invitation for an upcoming show with a bicycle theme, I got to work right away! I took a few photos of an antique bicycle, which was my reference for this composition. The main objective […] more »
This collage is a continuation of my Iowa barn series that I began in 1994. I used a reference photo given to my by a friend. This barn is in northwest Iowa. All of my barn collages have been done from actual barns found in southeast Iowa, or friends who send me pictures from their areas. […] more »
I’m back doing a still life with my favorite glassware. I recently purchased the round, ruby vase that I thought would be great in a set-up. The other challenge in this still life was using an abstract acrylic collage in the background behind the glass. The pears added interesting shapes and color changes in the design. A piece of […] more »
What could be more simple than a design of brushes? I chose a variety of sizes and drew the shapes directly on the paper. Leaving the background for last, I discovered the interesting triangular patterns between the brushes and used different pigments for each one: naples yellow, violet and sap green. The triangles emphasize the angular pattern […] more »